Russ Noble pics from NZ visit

[Ross Nicol]

I've just got back from my Rockstar reunion in Invercargill but before that I met up with Russ Noble in Christchurch. We spent almost a full day together and I have pics of his car. The chassis is very light in construction and should have good power to weight ratio. The body is also light. I think I may start a poll for who has their car closest to their bed as Russ will probably win. He lives in a small factory and his car is through a wall behind his bed.
I reckon he probably lays in bed at night , thinks of a new idea then shoots out to put the idea into practice. Ah these men with no woman to contend with. Really enjoyed the time with you Russ.
Regards Ross

 

[ChrisL]

And talking about Invercargill, while on holiday in NZ recently we decided to make the pilgrimage to the birthplace of The World's Fastest Indian. A great true story and if you haven't seen the movie, then do so immediately. Colleen and I thought we'd be lucky if we got the chance to see the actual beach where Burt Munro tested the motorbike, but blow me down... the actual original bike was on display at the local hardware store. Here are a few pics.

 

[Mesa]

Chris,
Burt Munro is every motorcycle racer's hero. And I would guess his never say die spirit and inventiveness can be related to by all grearheads but more-so by racing gearheads.

Made be oddly proud somehow that Burt's Bonneville 'mentor' in the movie came from the city in which I was born, San Jose California.

That movie ROCKS.

 

[Russ Noble]

Bert Munro put Invercargill (where?) on the map when that mighty film was released. Invercargill is also host to the worlds southernmost international motorracing circuit, namely Teretonga Park.

Christchurch has a modern day equivalent in the form of the late John Brittan who also built his own bike and took on the might of the factory teams at Daytona and beat them.

And there is another lesser known guy by the name of Phil Garrett who more recently built his own side car outfit and broke the world landspeed record for the class (1000cc n/a, I think) on a closed public road just out of town here with fences and telegraph poles an either side of the road!! They weren't a problem, it was the undulations and camber changes on the road that made it almost uncontrolable and limitted the speed of the machine. It was way below it's potential but still managed to beat the existing record,held by another NZer, Bob Burns, by about 30mph. That outfit has been sold to a racer from the States whose name escapes me at the present time, but he has no legs!! He has already had it to Bonneville and last I heard had exceeded the speed but only on a oneway run so the record still stands.

Both John and Phil achieved their results on homebuilt machines crafted by a team of enthusiasts and built on an absolute shoestring. The spirit of Burt Munro is still alive and well.

Ross, it was good to meet up with you, I have no idea where the time went, it was amost interesting day. Good luck with your next race meeting, we await results.

Cheers

 

[Ron Earp]

Christchurch has a modern day equivalent in the form of the late John Brittan who also built his own bike and took on the might of the factory teams at Daytona and beat them.

Saw that bike at Daytona and Charolette - cool machine with the awesome blue headers. Nice people too, said a couple words to him and his crew dudes, really friendly. Early to mid-90s, in the US you can walk into the pits at a bike race and there isn't a soul in sight - Harley guys don't go to races in Daytona despite it being bike week!

 

[Mesa]

Saw that bike at Daytona and Charolette - cool machine with the awesome blue headers. Nice people too, said a couple words to him and his crew dudes, really friendly. Early to mid-90s, in the US you can walk into the pits at a bike race and there isn't a soul in sight - Harley guys don't go to races in Daytona despite it being bike week!

I had the 'honor' of having the garage across from the Britten team for the Daytona 200 Superbike race in 1995. I had no idea then but I was looking at 60% of the the total Brittens ever built at that event.

That was cool, awesomely engineered bikes (still my favorite) and that Mrs. Britten was not too hard to look at either!

Almost made it OK that the engine blew in second qualifying round after I was safely in on my first session time. Shoe string budget, traveled all the way across the country, no spare engine, thousands spent just to sit in the infield to watch the race....never made the trek again.

I'm a wuss -
Burt Munro ROCKED!

 

[Russ Noble]

Mesa,

IIRC John Brittan also had no spare motor at Daytona and cracked a cylinder barrel in qualifying or practice. Overnight they stripped the motor and in the absence of being able to do anything else- where can you get Brittan barrels- they brazed up the barrel and remachined it, and it was good for the race! They also bought (or were given - I'm not sure which) other teams old practice tyres to use in the race, that is until one of the tyre companies saw an opportunity and came to the party.

 

[Ross Nicol]

Here is a pic of the car from " The worlds fastest Indian". They were removing the door of the Invercargill Museum to get it in for display.
That beach Chris L posted the photo of is called " Oreti beach " and I was there one day when Bert did a run. On the day he ran without the aero body and it looked amazing as you could see how fragile it was and the way he lay on it. I knew I'd seen something special that day. I think he cracked 130mph which was a record but the Indian wasn't able to do the return run.
At the time I was in high school and worked after school at an auto parts store. Bert was well known to come in and scrounge parts which he always seemed to get. I distinctly remember before the beach run he got out the oil can and lubricated the exposed rocker valve assy. Incidently Chris I used to work at that Hardware store called "E Hayes and Sons" where Bert's bike is displayed at the moment, the owners were motor bike enthusiusts and I remember a really pristine Indian amongst their collection.
Russ I spent last sunday at a Teretonga club race meeting. The drummer in my old band "Paul" was racing his Datsun 1200 until it poked a leg out of bed.
We spent the rest of the day driving round in the safety car.
Ross

 

[ChrisL]

The Motor-Inn keeper where we stayed at Invercargill knew Burt Munro in his later years. He told us of a story of Burt’s drag bike. Burt decided that his bike was too slow getting off the mark because it was too highly geared. His solution? Build a small swiveling stand at the rear to hold the wheel off the ground, then spin the wheel up to speed and drop the bike off the stand. The theory was better than the result. The bike toppled over onto his leg injuring it considerably. Apparently his thoughts though were not of his leg and refused to seek medical attention despite the bleeding.

Ross. Spot on re the beach and the hardware store

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

There is a terrific biography of John Britten, by Tim Hanna, which details all his efforts and gives a great deal of insight on what it must have been like to be in motor racing and bike racing in NZ at the time. I highly recommend it. It is a shame he died so young, he really was a great genius. You all may be crazy down there, but you sure know how to go fast no matter what you are driving.

My car's chassis was started in Invercargill....small world.

 

[Jac Mac]

There is a terrific biography of John Britten, by Tim Hanna, which details all his efforts and gives a great deal of insight on what it must have been like to be in motor racing and bike racing in NZ at the time. I highly recommend it. It is a shame he died so young, he really was a great genius. You all may be crazy down there, but you sure know how to go fast no matter what you are driving.

My car's chassis was started in Invercargill....small world.

Jimbo, with all the crazy stuff going on in the world today I tend to think most of the " crazy people " live north of the equator. Dont tell them though, they might all want to shift down this way!!

Cheers
Jac Mac